Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government at which meetings held by Ministers and officials with representatives of the British Medical Association since May 2016 the subject of medical involvement in firearms licensing was discussed.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Home Office Ministers and officials have regular meetings with stakeholders as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings. But I can confirm that we have discussed the involvement of medical professionals in firearms licensing procedures with representatives of the medical profession, including the British Medical Association, and we will continue to do so, as appropriate.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were prosecuted for making a false declaration about a medical condition on applications for grant renewal of (1) shotgun, and (2) firearms, certificates in the most recent three years for which records are available.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
Statistics relating to prosecutions for making a false statement in order to procure the grant or renewal of a firearm or shotgun certificate are available within the publication: Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool. The relevant offence codes are 11559 and 11560. In summary, the figures for the last three years show that in 2019 there were 14 prosecutions and 8 convictions; in 2018 there were 2 prosecutions and 0 convictions; and in 2017 there were 15 prosecutions and 5 convictions.
Data relating to prosecutions specifically in relation to a false declaration relating to medical conditions is not available centrally.
Firearms licensing is an operational matter for police forces. The police carry out a number of checks to ensure that those in possession of firearms do not pose a danger to public safety, including in relation to medical suitability. As part of this process, GPs are asked to provide information about whether the applicant has suffered from a number of relevant medical conditions, prior to the issuing of the firearm or shotgun certificate by the police
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many general practitioners in the last three years for which records are available have placed markers on the medical notes of shotgun and firearm certificate-holders in compliance with Home Office guidance.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Government does not require general practitioners to report on whether and how they place a marker on the medical records of shotgun or firearm certificate holders. However, the Government is supportive of the use of these markers as a means of helping to ensure firearms licences are held safely.
The Home Office is actively working with the medical profession and the Department of Health and Social Care to see what more can be done to promote the effective and consistent use of medical markers.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, when the Ministry of Defence wish to close and dispose of a site and inform the original landowners or their successors in title that Crichel Down Rules will not apply, they are under a duty to provide a detailed explanation to the former landowners as to why they believe such Rules do not apply.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The Crichel Down Rules (CDR) are applied to any land that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) originally acquired or may have acquired through compulsory purchase or threat of compulsory purchase. Where it is decided that the CDR do not apply to a disposal site, there is no obligation on the MOD to notify the former owner(s) of this decision. Where the CDR apply to a disposal site, but that site falls within any of the exceptions in the CDR from the obligation to offer back, the former owner(s) will be notified of this decision and the relevant exception (s) being relied upon. There is no duty imposed by the CDR to provide former owners with a detailed explanation of their applicability or the exceptions being relied upon.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision of Derbyshire Constabulary to introduce a new process for all firearm and shotgun applications, including renewals, which requires applicants to provide, and pay for, medical information verified by a GP; what discussions they have had with that Constabulary about the compliance of that process with Home Office Guidance; and what assessment they have made of the impact of that process on the workload of frontline medical practitioners and the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The police are responsible for assessing the suitability of those who apply for the grant or renewal of a firearm or shotgun certificate. The police carry out a number of checks to ensure that those in possession of firearms do not pose a danger to public safety, including in relation to medical suitability based on information provided normally by the applicant’s GP.
The Government has consulted on the introduction of new statutory firearms guidance to police, which includes proposals for revised medical arrangements to ensure that police have the medical information they require before the grant of a certificate. The consultation closed on 17 September and the Government will publish its response and the statutory guidance in due course.
The Government recognises that firearms licensing arrangements, including the medical aspects, will be affected by the measures that have been put in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Police forces may need to adopt a flexible approach to meet local need and risk in the current exceptional circumstances and there may be some impact on firearms licensing arrangements. The Government will continue to have discussions with the police to keep firearms licensing under review over the coming weeks and months, but the Government’s priority is to continue to encourage people to stay at home and to protect the NHS.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support those persons and businesses affected by flooding of the River Severn in the Shrewsbury and Ironbridge areas of Shropshire.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Opposition Deputy Chief Whip (Lords)
Government responded immediately to the Storms Ciara and Dennis by activating the Bellwin Scheme of emergency financial assistance on 10 February and extended this to more areas (including Shropshire) on 17 February.
Further to this, the Government activated the Flood Recovery Framework on 18 February for local authorities with 25 or more flooded households. The Framework provides funding for local authorities, to help affected residents and businesses to recover from the flooding, as well as reimbursements to local authorities for offering 100 per cent council tax discounts and business rates relief to these affected properties.
The Government has also announced the Property Flood Resilience Scheme to help householders and businesses implement measures to make their properties become more resilient to flooding.
Government continues to work with local authorities to assess the full extent of the flooding impacts and will release the funding to eligible local authorities in due course.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to close 4 Site, MOD Stafford; and if so, what is the envisaged timescale.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation are currently in negotiations to sell 4 Site, MOD Stafford.
I am withholding the information in relation to when the site is intended for closure, as to do so would prejudice commercial interests.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, should they decide to close 4 Site, MOD Stafford, the original owner of the site will have preferred bidder status.
Answered by Baroness Goldie - Shadow Minister (Defence)
The site will be disposed of in accordance with Ministry of Defence standard procedures and treasury guidelines. The Department would offer any surplus land back to the former owner or their successors under the Crichel Down rules at the market value if the associated Crichel Down criteria are met, and prior to going to the open market.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funds from central Government are available currently to local authorities in relation to (1) the integrated supported living model of adult care, and (2) Housing Benefit.
Answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott - Opposition Whip (Lords)
1) In 2020-21, the Government has given local authorities access to almost £6 billion of dedicated funding across adult and children’s social care. This includes:
a) £1 billion of new grant funding for adults and children’s social care;
b) Consulting on a 2% council tax precept for adult social care, which will enable councils to access a further £500 million;
c) The continuation of existing social care grant funding worth £2.5 billion, through the improved Better Care Fund (iBCF) and Social Care Grant.
2) The total national funding available to local authorities in order to administer Housing Benefit for this year (2019/20) is £256.1 million.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the number of prosecutions for fly tipping by local authorities in each of the last five years; and what has been the success rate of any such prosecutions.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The total number of prosecutions for fly-tipping offences by local authorities in England, as well as the proportion that were successful, over the last five years are shown in the table below.
Year | Total number of prosecutions | Number of successful prosecutions | % of successful prosecutions |
2014/15 | 1,810 | 1,771 | 97.8% |
2015/16 | 2,203 | 2,091 | 94.9% |
2016/17 | 1,571 | 1,546 | 98.4% |
2017/18 | 2,243 | 2,186 | 97.5% |
2018/19 | 2,397 | 2,306 | 96.2% |
This information is published as part of the annual Fly-tipping Statistics for England, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england